Rey Maualuga - Rushbacker?

[bigbluedefense]

I know Rey is pretty much a 2 down run thumping MIKE, but is there a chance he could play 3-4 rushbacker?

He's devastating as a blitzer, and might be the best blitzing MIKE we've seen in quite some time. He's big enough at 6-2 255.

Im curious if a team would try him out as a rushbacker. Just a thought that popped into my head on a boring Sunday.

I honestly question his worth as a 3-4 inside backer. I haven't seen much evidence that he's good at shedding blocks. I think he'd thrive in a 46 style defense where he can work downhill and get at runningbacks and qbs unblocked. Maybe he can play BUCK in a blitzing 3-4 like Rex Ryan's or Wade Phillips.

But as a pure 2 gap 3-4 inside backer, I don't know if he has what it takes.

[IndyColtScout]

Yes I think he can. He's got an instict to just go after the ball carrier regardless. Plus, he just looks good on the blitz. Best case scenario for him IMO would be PHI though.

[Geo]

Too slow to blitz imo. He'd never get there in time and he wouldn't get past a blocker if his life depended on it. Unless maybe he was one-on-one against Lorenzo Booker, I guess.

[IndyColtScout]

I disagree, he's got football speed.

[bigbluedefense]

Too slow to blitz imo. He'd never get there in time and he wouldn't get past a blocker if his life depended on it. Unless maybe he was one-on-one against Lorenzo Booker, I guess.

he's definitely not too slow. forget what his 40 time says, the man can fly with pads on. his first step is pretty explosive and he gets a great step off the snap.

if he can learn how to use his hands to shed and learn the arm over etc, i think he could do it. it would be a project though.

if the giants didn't have such a gaping hole at WR, he'd be the perfect pick for us for MIKE.

[bigbluedefense]

he reminds me of Lawrence Timmons in some ways. What stuck out to me with Timmons was his ability to blitz as a true LB, and how explosive he was in doing it.

Rey has that rare ability to explode like Timmons does. Maybe not a true 3-4 rushbacker, but i can also see him thrive in a Timmons like role in Pittsburgh.

I think Rey's coverage ability is somewhat underrated too. He's not Brian Urlacher in coverage by any means, but he's good enough.

[Somse]

If you don't think he's good at shedding blocks, what would moving him to a position where his success depends entirely on shedding blocks accomplish?

[bigbluedefense]

If you don't think he's good at shedding blocks, what would moving him to a position where his success depends entirely on shedding blocks accomplish?

its different types of blocks to shed.


the issue will be his ability to stay ground when linemen are running at him. he needs to play with a stronger base to shed blocks in the run game when he's holding ground and engaging with linemen.

but that weakness can be masked more as a rushbacker opposed to an inside backer, because a rushbacker's job is really to set the edge in the run game. he can do that by engaging against TEs, or sealing the edge against OTs, which I think he'd have decent success with because of his lateral agility.

[Somse]

its different types of blocks to shed.


the issue will be his ability to stay ground when linemen are running at him. he needs to play with a stronger base to shed blocks in the run game when he's holding ground and engaging with linemen.

but that weakness can be masked more as a rushbacker opposed to an inside backer, because a rushbacker's job is really to set the edge in the run game. he can do that by engaging against TEs, or sealing the edge against OTs, which I think he'd have decent success with because of his lateral agility.

And how exactly would he get to the quarterback if he can't shed blocks? And how would he hold ground against OTs in the run game?

If you think he can't shed blocks, it makes no sense to put him anywhere in a 3-4 scheme because the entire philosophy of the scheme depends on linebackers who can consistently deal with blocks (maybe with the exception of one of the ILBs).

[bigbluedefense]

And how exactly would he get to the quarterback if he can't shed blocks? And how would he hold ground against OTs in the run game?

If you think he can't shed blocks, it makes no sense to put him anywhere in a 3-4 scheme because the entire philosophy of the scheme depends on linebackers who can consistently deal with blocks (maybe with the exception of one of the ILBs).

read what i wrote again.

all blocks aren't the same. as an inside backer, the type of blocks you shed are different from an outside backer in a 3-4.

especially on passing downs, when youre advancing and the linemen is retreating.

ive already explained how his responsibilities against blocks are different in different positions. so im not going to say the same thing again.

fyi, rushbackers don't engage OTs in the run game all the time. in fact most of the time, theyre taking on a TE, and setting the edge.

its the 3-4 DEs job to take on OTs if he's reading the right gap. Also, Rey's issues can be solved by slanting into gaps, something many teams do.

[bigbluedefense]

and just for clarification, im not saying he should be a 3-4 rushbacker. i just posed the question if you think he's capable of it.

i think with some coaching, he is capable of doing it. but its definitely not his best position.

[Somse]

and just for clarification, im not saying he should be a 3-4 rushbacker. i just posed the question if you think he's capable of it.

i think with some coaching, he is capable of doing it. but its definitely not his best position.

It doesn't make sense to take a player like Rey and magnify his weaknesses (if you believe shedding blocks is his weakness) by putting him a position where he'll have to take on and defeat blocks every play to be successful. That's all I'm saying.

To me it would be like putting a linebacker who struggles in coverage but is great against the run in a Cover 2 scheme. Makes no sense.

[bigbluedefense]

It doesn't make sense to take a player like Rey and magnify his weaknesses (if you believe shedding blocks is his weakness) by putting him a position where he'll have to take on and defeat blocks every play to be successful. That's all I'm saying.

To me it would be like putting a linebacker who struggles in coverage but is great against the run in a Cover 2 scheme. Makes no sense.

my main point in making this thread is, with people saying Aaron Curry can play outside in a 3-4 with little to no evidence, why not Rey?

At least we know Rey is a punishing blitzer, and while he does not shed blocks as well as I want him too, with good coaching he's very capable of doing it. A man as strong as him and as tenacious as him can definitely learn how to deal with it.

People project Maybin to 3-4 rushbacker and he has a lot of difficulty shedding blocks as well (more than Rey actually). But we assume he can be taught to get better. Im making the same assumption with Rey.

[Somse]

my main point in making this thread is, with people saying Aaron Curry can play outside in a 3-4 with little to no evidence, why not Rey?

At least we know Rey is a punishing blitzer, and while he does not shed blocks as well as I want him too, with good coaching he's very capable of doing it. A man as strong as him and as tenacious as him can definitely learn how to deal with it.

People project Maybin to 3-4 rushbacker and he has a lot of difficulty shedding blocks as well (more than Rey actually). But we assume he can be taught to get better. Im making the same assumption with Rey.

In what situation would a team draft Rey to play 3-4 OLB? Would you take him over Maybin, Brown, Orakpo, English, Ayers etc.? Of course not, and he's going to be gone before some of those guys so why bring it up?

[Texas Homer]

Anything is possible, but I don't think so.

If I'm a GM, no way would I draft Rey to play OLB in a 3-4. It could work(which I doubt),but it could also cost you your job as a GM.

[bigbluedefense]

In what situation would a team draft Rey to play 3-4 OLB? Would you take him over Maybin, Brown, Orakpo, English, Ayers etc.? Of course not, and he's going to be gone before some of those guys so why bring it up?

why not?

i never said he should play there, all i did was post a question asking if other people feel he's capable of playing the position.

i clearly stated his best fit in the first sentence of my first post.

as for a situation, look at Pittsburgh and Lawrence Timmons.

Timmons has played both inside and outside for them. They use him as a rushbacker on passing downs quite often. Was he ever projected as a 3-4 rushbacker? No. Is he playing like a situational one in Pittsburgh? Yes.

I think Rey can be used in a similar role.

[Brent]

I hate to say it but I wouldn't be all that shocked if the Niners took him at #10 (even though I'd be absolutely pissed) to put him next to Willis.

[Somse]

why not?

i never said he should play there, all i did was post a question asking if other people feel he's capable of playing the position.

i clearly stated his best fit in the first sentence of my first post.

as for a situation, look at Pittsburgh and Lawrence Timmons.

Timmons has played both inside and outside for them. They use him as a rushbacker on passing downs quite often. Was he ever projected as a 3-4 rushbacker? No. Is he playing like a situational one in Pittsburgh? Yes.

I think Rey can be used in a similar role.

Timmons is a 3-4 ILB. The Steelers sub him in on passing downs for Foote.

I have never seen him line up at OLB but maybe he did a few times. Pittsburgh is hoping he'll take Foote's spot inside though...

[yourfavestoner]

To me, ideally, he's a thumper MLB in a 4-3. He is Jeremiah Trotter all over again.

[PossibleCabbage]

Personally, I don't like him as a 3-4 OLB simply because you expect those guys to be able to play some coverage. You could just put him there on downs where you know he's just going to rush the passer, but the primary advantage of the 3-4 defense since the early 90s is that it's difficult to set blocking schemes as virtually any player on the defense could drop into coverage or rush the passer. So any player who is either weak in coverage or at rushing the passer makes the offense's job that much easier.

I'm not saying he couldn't learn to do it, but it's not something you draft him thinking of since it's not something he's going to be able to do right away.

[Strongside]

Timmons is a 3-4 ILB. The Steelers sub him in on passing downs for Foote.

I have never seen him line up at OLB but maybe he did a few times. Pittsburgh is hoping he'll take Foote's spot inside though...

We lined him up everywhere this year, and I'm hoping he starts this year at ILB

[yourfavestoner]

This was like in 06 when everybody was asking about Mario Williams as a 3-4 end. Sure, he theoretically should be able to do it, but he'd be far better suited off in his more natural position.

[TitanHope]

I hate 3-4 terminology. SAM, WILL, BUCK...

Add MIKE with 4-3 fronts. I can't keep track. :(

We need to make a TOM position, that way I can have a position named after me!

[A Perfect Score]

I hate 3-4 terminology. SAM, WILL, BUCK...

Add MIKE with 4-3 fronts. I can't keep track. :(

We need to make a TOM position, that way I can have a position named after me!

you do realize SAM and WILL are actually 4-3 terminology as well...just thing Sam for strongside and Will for weakside...and Mike for middle...Those are basic football terms, anyone who has played football at even a high school level should understand their meaning...I hope you were being sarcastic with your post lol

[DiG]

do not be surprised if he is the starting strong side for the redskins as a rookie. if the big 4 OTs are off the board and so are orakpo and raji i do think that rey could be the pick and would probably start at strongside where the skins do a lot of blitzing.

[PossibleCabbage]

I hate 3-4 terminology. SAM, WILL, BUCK...

Add MIKE with 4-3 fronts. I can't keep track. :(

We need to make a TOM position, that way I can have a position named after me!

The problem is that the 3-4 terminology is not standardized. For the names for the 4 backers I've heard: Sam, Mike, Will, Elephant; Sam, Mike, Ted, Will; and Sam, Mike, Jack, Will. It all depends on the coach.

The way to keep it straight is thus:

You have two inside linebackers, one is generally a sideline to sideline guy who's a sure tackler and can cover, and the other is generally an instinctive, physical thumper who fills gaps (but can also cover). The gap eater generally plays on the strongside and the coverage guy generally plays on the weak side, but it's a good thing if both of your guys can fill either role. Maualuga was born to play the gap eating ILB, but his coverage skills are something he really needs to work on.

You have two outside linebackers, one on the weak side and one on the strong side. Both have similar responsibilities: outside contain, pass rush, coverage in the flat, and near zone coverage. The weakside OLB is the one who will rush the passer the most, since he's on the QB's blindside.

Don't worry about Mike, Jack, Ted, Sam, Will, and Elephant unless you're talking about a specific scheme for a specific team (San Francisco has a Ted, but Dallas doesn't. Dallas has an Elephant, which San Francisco does not). Just think ILB and OLB.

[TitanHope]

I just get frustrated when I see, "He can play Bomber Man for so-and-so," and I'm all like, "Wha? Crap, I gotta Google Bomber Man now."

:(

[Flyboy]

LMFAO @ TitanHope. That's golden, sir.

[Babylon]

He struggled at the combine when he was asked to get to the QB and he wasnt a rush guy at SC. So let's see if we can make him a rush guy in the pros. Have at it.

[Iamcanadian]

Rey is already being questioned about his ability to drop back in coverage as an ILB, now you want to move him to OLB where he will have even more responsibility to play in coverage. Over and over they have been saying whether or not he is a 2 down LB or a 3 down LB because dropping in coverage isn't what he is best at.
I'd say that is the last thing that any pro team whether a 3-4 or a 4-3 will ever ask Rey to do is switch to OLB unless an injury forced them to do it. Rush LB's don't rush on every play, many times in a game they may be asked to cover a RB out of the backfield or a TE. I doubt Rey wouldn't be a liability at OLB.

[D-Unit]

Love the way BBD thinks. Yes, this is an out of the box idea, and I think there will be times when he does line up on the outside during his career... depending on where he ends up. But I think the majority of the time... he'll be an ILB.

I think his coverage skills are underrated. I think his ability to shed blocks is underrated as well. He'll probably be the highest Polynesian player ever drafted, but even so... just like the others before him, the paper grade of his measurables cause many to devalue his true football value on the field. Not saying he has no weaknesses, because I know he's not perfect... but even Ray Lewis is not effective w/out blockers in front of him.

Rey is gonna be a terror in the NFL.

[PossibleCabbage]

If we're plotting the entire course of Maualuga's career in the NFL, a lot of whether he's ultimately successful or not is going to come down to how much he can improve himself as a player. There's a little reason to worry about here since at USC he was making a lot of the same mistakes in his senior year as he did as a freshman, and USC is no slouch when it comes to coaching. But at the same time, you have to acknowledge that everybody who gets drafted is going to get better if he sticks around in the league.

The thing about Maualuga is not going to be "how many plays does he make", since he's always going to be a guy who makes plays. The question with him is "how many plays is he going to give up?" due to mistakes or overagressiveness. Some teams will be willing to give up more plays on defense in exchange for making more plays on defense, some won't. Some teams are going to be able to abide by a few plays given up by their MLB, provided he improves at this as his career goes along, but you have to admit that at USC a number of his flaws were covered up by the fact that he played with a very talented defense where any player could pick up the slack for anybody else, and he played on a team that was consistently more talented and likely better coached than most everybody they were up against. How's he going to handle life on an NFL team where none of these things are true? Nobody knows, and I'm nowhere near qualified to speak on this.

Maualuga could be great, but he could also... not be great. It's not going to have much to do with what he can or can't do as a rookie, but it's going to have a lot to do with what sort of role he's asked to play, and how he improves his game. If Maualuga were at his ceiling now, I wouldn't draft him in the first round, but he's not and so someone probably will. He's one of those guys with a hell of a lot of upside, and sometimes those guys are stars, and sometimes they're quickly forgotten. In the right system, in the right town, with the right coaches he could be a terror. I'm interested to see how he adapts to circumstances that don't favor him though.

[no love]

Love the way BBD thinks. Yes, this is an out of the box idea, and I think there will be times when he does line up on the outside during his career... depending on where he ends up. But I think the majority of the time... he'll be an ILB.

I think his coverage skills are underrated. I think his ability to shed blocks is underrated as well. He'll probably be the highest Polynesian player ever drafted, but even so... just like the others before him, the paper grade of his measurables cause many to devalue his true football value on the field. Not saying he has no weaknesses, because I know he's not perfect... but even Ray Lewis is not effective w/out blockers in front of him.

Rey is gonna be a terror in the NFL.

Dude... Junior Seau? 5th pick overall in his class.

But I do agree, Rey is underrated as a prospect. But more because people are underrating how big of an X-factor he is on the game. He has that "it-factor" that makes him special. Plain and simple, in big games, on big stages, Rey steps up and takes over games.

[FlyingElvis]

You have two inside linebackers, one is generally a sideline to sideline guy who's a sure tackler and can cover, and the other is generally an instinctive, physical thumper who fills gaps (but can also cover). The gap eater generally plays on the strongside and the coverage guy generally plays on the weak side, but it's a good thing if both of your guys can fill either role. Maualuga was born to play the gap eating ILB, but his coverage skills are something he really needs to work on.
This is precisely the reason I'm hoping NE does whatever it takes to land Rey. The thought of Rey & Mayo growing up together in NE makes me very happy.

I just get frustrated when I see, "He can play Bomber Man for so-and-so," and I'm all like, "Wha? Crap, I gotta Google Bomber Man now."

:(
Great, now I'm confused. Just when I was certain I knew "Bomber Man" was reserved for Ricky Williams.

[MarioPalmer]

Maualuga is a thumper, a guy you put in the middle of your defense to give you attitude and power. Now if thats in a 3-4 as ILB like people are projecting him to do with San Diego, which has always been the best scenerio for him because he would have 2 outstanding pass rushers playing alongside him and a beast in Williams in front of him, or playing as thumper MLB in a agressive defense like the Redskins or Eagles where he has outstanding D-Line in front of him with solid to elite corner and safety play.

Rey Muauluga has consistently gotten better every single year since his frosh year, and his ceiling has yet to be reached. The kid can ball, and anyone who thinks he can't I would tell you to watch each of the bowl games, each of the primetime games that USC was involved in and he showed up big for them, and thats what scouts, coaches and GMs see.

His potential has yet to be fullfilled, so he also has scouts and coches that recognize that and will easily will willing to take this guy under their wing and develope. Think about it, we see high potential guys all the time that don't have near the production nor resume that he has and yet they have been picked quite high. So with Rey you have a terrific base to start off with, and one thing that is very important is that he is willing to put the time in and willing to dedicate himself. Thats something you can't teach nor coach, and he has it in spades.

Also, and this is a fact, Ken Nortaon Jr. coached Rey to be wild and agressive and to always be going forward. Tha is fact, as a matter of fact that is a quote from Ken Norton Jr. He coached him to always be an agressive player, always a player that is attacking and causing the majority of the trouble for the opposing defense. So, and this is Nortons words, when Rey looked to be out of position he was actually doign what the play called for and what his coaching staff expecting of him.

Rey is one of the highest potential guys in this draft. And don't be surprised that a team like the Ravens or the Patriots don't pick him and give him that inside blitzing job, because if there is one thing he can do very well in the pass rushing game is time his blitz up the middle and causing havoc. He performed very well at Senior Bowl when asked to participate in pass rushing drills and when Nelson so called pancaked him was when the play was over and they were about 10 yards down field. He actually looked quite natural in the role of rushing when one on one which he would bhe doing when rushing up the middle when his 3 down lineman along with one OLB are occupying blockers.

[DiG]

do not be surprised if he is the starting strong side for the redskins as a rookie. if the big 4 OTs are off the board and so are orakpo and raji i do think that rey could be the pick and would probably start at strongside where the skins do a lot of blitzing.

"USC linebacker Rey Maualuga is visiting the Washington Redskins on Tuesday, April 14, according to a league source."

Standing firm on my belief that if it isn't one of the big 4 OTs than the Skins pick is going to be Maualuga if Rakpo is off the board too.

[parrish_lemar24DBSkins]

Ken Norton didn't coach Rey to be "aggressive", he already brought that trait with him to USC.
All Norton did was coach to Maualuga's strengths, that is, if Rey is gonna try to jump plays and run around trying to make every tackle, then his defensive coach incorporated his style of play into the defensive scheme.

As a MLB, unless Maualuga learns to play with more discipline at the next level, especially if he's picked by the SKins because so much of the effectiveness of their front seven in stopping the run is predicated on the pre-snap reads and intelligence of their MLB, he's going to have growing pains.

No one in DC wants to sign another Lavar Arrington type LB, a million dollar talent with a ten cent head.
Meaning, an athlete who thinks his overall physical talent can overcome his lack of mental discipline within the defensive scheme.

Teams like the Eagles and Giants would deliberately attack Arrington's position on the field late in games because they knew he would either over-pursue or bite on misdirection and take himself out of the play, or blow downfield coverage.

I do agree if he is chosen with the 13th pick, Rey will be tried first at SLB because of the glaring need at the position and be transitioned to MLB when London Fletcher retires or is released.